Agencies
MUMBAI: Raj Kapoor’s ancestral haveli in Peshawar, where he was born and which was partially demolished by its owner some time ago, is not the only piece of the Kapoor clan which was left in Pakistan during the Partition in 1947.
Apart from the Kapoor family’s haveli in Kissa Khwani Bazaar of Peshawar, Raj Kapoor’s maternal uncle or mama known as Mr Mehra also stayed back in Pakistan. According to Pakistani political scientist Ishtiaq Ahmed, Raj Kapoor’s mama married a Muslim woman, converted to Islam and stayed back in Lahore, rather then go to India after the Partition.
Not much was known about Mr Mehra after he became a Muslim and decided to settle down in Lahore.
Speaking about the Kapoor Haveli in Peshawar, the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province had declared it as heritage a few years ago and planned to buy from the current. But the deal got delayed because of the price.
When the top storey of the four-storeyed haveli was demolished by the owner, officials of the Pakistani archeology department intervened to stop it.
Even as their haveli was making news in the media in India and Pakistan, no member of the Kapoor clan in Mumbai bothered about their ancestral place.
“We don’t have any emotional connect to that house since we haven’t seen it. Let the Pakistan government demolish it. I am not even sure if that was Raj Kapoor’s own house or rented because he didn’t have that much money then to own a house. So I don’t think that anyone from the Kapoor family has any problem with that,” Rishi Kapoor was quoted as saying by reports.
Since Prithiraj Kapoor had shifted to Mumbai from Lahore much before the Partition, Rishi Kapoor had said, “We came to India even before the Partition happened and never did see the house. I don’t know why others are having an issue, when we ourselves don’t have any problem with the demolition. We three brothers never stayed there. Why would we have a problem?”
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